Progress on moving from Python 2 to Python 3 - training for both versionsI find the progressing fron one major version of a language to another is often incredibly slow. But I suppose I shouldn't find it "incredible" because lifetime code maintenance and updates account for more time spent on a successfully appied piece of software that the original writing of it. And even ...

Python - an interesting applicationPython's in use in a very wide variety of applications ... one of the more noteworthy that we got involved in recently was in robot programming .... here's our Python Course delegate with his robot.
Python is an ideal language for tailoring C / C++ applications such as real time control systems as ...

We not only teach PHP and Python - we teach good PHP and Python Practice!This week, I'm running a private PHP course in North London, and a private Python course in Bristol ... and it's confirmed and re-confirmed the need for programming standards to be included from the beginning just as much as the mechanisms of the language. I'm not only teaching people how to write ...

Why reinvent the wheel1. Because you feel you can do better.
2. Because you've nothing else to do and you want to be busy when your boss walks by.
3. Because it's so much more fun re-inventing the wheel than using someone else's.
4. Because you can learn from your experience.
5. Because you didn't realise that someone ...

Programming languages - a comparison"It would take me a week to develop application XXX in C, 2 or 3 days in Java, and a day in Perl, PHP, or Python."
So I say when I'm teaching Perl, PHP or Python.
What do I say when I'm teaching C, C++ or Java? The same thing! But there are qualifications / differences / reasons and just because it ...

Python v RubyRuby v Python ... I've been asked for a comparison!
• Both are object oriented scripting languages - or rather claim to be scripting languages, but are really compile-and-run via their own virtual machines, in just the same way as Perl and Java are.
• Both are modern, Open Source languages ...

Sludge off the mountain, and Python and PHPIs Python 2.3 compatible with version 2.2? How about PHP 5.1 with PHP 4.4?
In an ideal world, the answer to every such compatibility question would be "yes, it is" but it's not always quite that simple. Python's upwards compatibility is excellent - as a language, it was designed for the purpose for ...

Python is like a narrowboatI'm giving a Python course today, to a team of seasoned programmers, and of course I'm coming up with a few things that are different to the languages they know. So far, we've had ...
* No switch statement
* No ++ operator
* blocks indicated via insets
* else clauses on while loops
Of course, this ...

Python in an afternoon - a lecture for experienced programmersLast Friday afternoon I was set a challenge - to present Python in three hours to a group of 20 very experience programmers who, however, knew nothing about this particular language.
The session was in Central London - my directions started off with "Get off the Tube at Oxford Circus", so Londoners ...

Python and the Magic RoundaboutI'm giving a Python course in Swindon today and tomorrow, and my group of seasoned programmers were concerned (that's putting it politely) that blocks of code in Python are inset, rather than being written between a { and a } as happens in most other languages.
Have you come across the Magic Roundabout, ...

Is Perl being replaced by PHP and Python?I was transferring some Perl code into PHP this morning, and thinking back to comments made to me that Perl seems to be fading away, whereas PHP and Python are growing. Has Larry Wall and the Perl team lost its way, then?
Part of the lesson is in my comment that Perl SEEMS to be fading. In my particular ...

Python makes University Challenge"In computer programming terms, what does OOP signify when used in the context of languages such as Python and Java" .... I couldn't quite believe my ears when I heard Jeremy Paxman asking that question last night on University Challenge. ...

Python 3000 - the next generationThere is no definite schedule for Python 3 (a.k.a. Python 3000 or Py3K) but a Python Enhancement Proposal (PEP) that details plans exists. There's a guiding principle to reduce duplication by removing old ways of doing things which will break version 2 compatibility. (Heard it before ... Perl 5 to Perl ...

Choosing the right languageWhy are there so many different computer languages? It's partly because there are many different types of things that need to be done in a programming environment and they require different mixes of facilities. And the addition of facility "x" which is really important for application "y" makes the ...

Database or Progamming - which to learn first?Q I'm going to be writing a database application, but I don't know much about programming of about databases. Should I learn Python before MySQL, or MySQL before Python?
A As far as our training is concerned, the order in which you learn the two technologies isn't especially important. They're like ...

Python modules. The distribution, The Cheese Shop and the Vaults of Parnassus.What if Python doesn't include a class / method that you would like, but you've got that feeling that "surely someone's done this before"?
1. They probably have
2. They've probably made it an available 'Open Source'
3. It's just a question of you knowing where to look!
Where to look ...
a) The built ...

Linux training Glasgow, Python programming course DundeeWe run training courses so often in Scotland that I don't even need a map anymore, except perhaps a streetmap page showing the roads in the immediate vicinity of the training venue. But how do we reach our potential client base? How do they find out about us?
Firstly, we have good and tailored web ...